Hope and faith amid despair.

Chatting with Kelsi Klembara on the Outside Ourselves podcast.

Photo by Levi Guzman on Unsplash

In August, I will surpass the eight-year mark of contributing to the mission of 1517 to declare the good news of forgiveness of sins through Christ alone. Since 2016, I have published nearly 150 articles for the site, the bulk of which have been edited by my colleague and friend,

Kelsi Klembara

. As you might expect, it was a thrill to be featured on the latest edition of Kelsi’s podcast, Outside Ourselves, where, among other things, we were able to reflect on Martin Luther’s “theology of the cross” and why it is such a formative paradigm for viewing the worst sort of suffering through the eyes of hope and faith. Here’s a snippet from our conversation:

Luther’s theology of the cross is not, to be sure, some sort of esoteric framework meant only for learned professors of theology. Rather, it is an empirical understanding of faith and suffering as the two converge in the person of the crucified Christ. His bloody and bruised frame affords every sinner and saint a glimpse of precisely who God is — namely, a God who willingly succumbs to death to give life to those he loves. It is this outlook on suffering and sorrow, as understood through the lens of the cross, that imbues sufferers with hope amid despair, disappointment, and depression.

Kelsi and I talk about this and much more in this podcast, including some “behind the scenes” nuggets concerning my book, Finding God in the Darkness: Hopeful Reflections from the Pits of Depression, Despair, and Disappointment (which was recently named a 2023 finalist in the New Author category of the ECPA Christian Book Awards), what it means to suffer honestly, and how faith and mental illness are not mutually exclusive. Hopefully, you have an hour to spare to listen to the full episode. Happy listening!

Grace and peace.